Overwatch’s new Champion is a Tank… Hamster

In the last few days, Blizzard has been teasing the Overwatch community via Tweets on something. Now, we learn what it’s all about. Overwatch receives its next champion character, Wrecking Ball. Check out the Developer Update video where game director Jeff Kaplan introduces the new rodent character.

The team behind one of the hottest competitive multiplayer games around, Overwatch, first teased an oncoming storm with a Tweet last week, showing an empty alley and not much else. Then, a new Tweet was posted early this week showing some kind of metal ball rolling through the former alley. The third and final Tweet finally solved the mystery by introducing the newest member to the impressive roaster of Overwatch characters. Hammond.

Blizzard also released a brief video which shows the origin story of Hammond to some beautiful artwork. In that, we learn that Hammond is the result of animal experimentation on the Horizon Lunar Colony. What makes Hammond stand out, is not a gigantic size or strength but his increased intelligence. Especially his interest in mechanics, which he taught himself by nightly break-outs, makes the cute little fella remarkable.

During the uproar on the moon station, Hammond secretly managed to flee to earth as alongside Winston, another animal-turned-hero created in the moon labs. With his quick wits, the small mechanic modified his escape pod into a rolling mech which earned him the nickname “Wrecking Ball”, during his career as a battle arena mech fighter.

A hamster with his souped up rolling ball. Ain’t that the cutest. There’s no doubt Hammond is quickly going to join his fellow heroes in becoming a popular character. He just has it all. Cute check. Captivating backstory check. Compelling and unique abilities check. Hammond is designed as a tank character according to Kaplan. He can shift into “Ball Mode” and roll around with devastating effect and use his Grappling Claw to quickly swing across the map. In “Tank Mode” Hammond is slower but his powerful Quad Cannons can dish out serious pain and if you want to go maximum destruction, Hammond’s ultimate Minefield will plant multiple mines around him, ruining any opponent’s day unlucky enough to enter it.

Go check out the videos Blizzard posted and read their detailed post about their new hero Wrecking Ball, if you want to learn more.